Don’t Forget about God’s Grace:

I have been continuing my Bible Study on the characteristics of God.  God still has many beautiful and lovely characteristics.  One of those, of course, is God’s grace.  I thought for sure I would read the section about God’s grace and believe there would be nothing I could read I hadn’t before.  I didn’t believe I would be interested in the reading because I figured it would be something I have read many times before.  However, this reading would really impress me because of its approach.  

To give a reminder about grace, the definition of Grace is “unmerited favor, love, and kindness of God to humanity.”  Sometimes it is defined by those in the church as, “not getting what you do deserve.”  Because we sin, we deserve death.  This isn’t just the physical death, but also spiritual death or complete separation from Christ for the rest of eternity.  However, even though we do have a physical death we will experience, we are now given an opportunity to have a relationship with Christ through his son’s death and then ultimate resurrection.  

I want to highlight one paragraph.  Again this book is called, “The Attributes of God,” by Kristin Schmucker.  The text says, “The word, grace, is mentioned often, as it should be.  Yet, sadly, this has sometimes meant that the richness of grace has become commonplace to us as believers.  Grace should never be commonplace.  It should leave us in awe and wonder of who our God is, that He would lavish us in a grace that we do not deserve.”  

I really enjoyed this quote because I realized this is me.  I can sometimes forget about grace and its importance. We in the church hear about God’s grace on a regular basis and how this impacts our life, but we can let it become sole head knowledge as opposed to heart knowledge.  Head knowledge is knowing something but treating it like a fact or general information.  Heart knowledge is when we really let this information take root and change our lives for the better. 

There are many times when the word grace is mentioned in the Bible. In fact, grace appears in the Bible roughly 170 times.  An example would be a group of verses in Ephesians 2:8-9 and this says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

I have really struggled with accepting God’s grace at various times.  I think I can take it for granted.  I believe this can be something that happens to those who have been a Christian for a majority of their lives or at least for quite a few years.  We can not imagine living without God’s grace because maybe we have always lived around and with it with those who have been in our lives.  I know I am this way.  I grew up with a grandma who started telling me about Jesus and His grace at a young age.  Then my mom had me going to church, Sunday school, and youth group from the start of school.  It was plenty of time to really know this information, but at the same time grow to not appreciate it as greatly as one who ever lived without it.  

 I will struggle through certain sins such as saying and thinking mean and inappropriate words and thoughts.  I know I am forgiven by God and the grace He gives and provides.  However, sometimes it is the excuse I have for not making any changes.  He can just forgive me again and again.  I don’t have to change much about myself.  However, even though His forgiveness is true, I need to also be aware of trying to be more like Christ, daily, working slowly at it to get better and better with the help of the Holy Spirit.  

The challenge for this week is to think about grace, really think about it.  What comes to your mind when you think of grace? How does it make you feel?  Is it something you easily write off as not important or do you actually think about its importance and the impact it can have on your life?   Are there ways you can express more gratefulness for the grace God has provided? Is there someone or a few people who you could tell about God’s grace?  

This really can best be shown through spending some time in prayer.  It is important to make sure to spend time praying to God and thanking Him for all you have and all the grace He has shown you as well as the grace He will continue to show you.  It can then also be important to spend time asking for this grace to mean more and more to you personally and for it to be something you never forget about on a regular basis.